Keira Knightley, who rose to fame in early-2000s films such as Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Pride & Prejudice, says she is delighted to now be in her “thriller era.”
In recent years, the 40-year-old actress has portrayed an Iraq War whistle-blower in Official Secrets, a 1960s reporter hunting a serial killer in Boston Strangler, and a professional spy in the TV series Black Doves.
Now, the two-time Oscar nominee takes the lead in The Woman In Cabin 10, Simon Stone’s adaptation of Ruth Ware’s 2016 bestselling novel.
Knightley stars as Laura “Lo” Blacklock, an investigative journalist sent aboard a luxury superyacht to report on a billionaire with secrets to hide, played by Guy Pearce.
One night, Lo witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard, only to be told it never happened, as every guest and crew member is accounted for.
With no one believing her, including fellow passengers portrayed by Hannah Waddingham, Daniel Ings, and Kaya Scodelario, she continues to search for the truth, putting her own life in jeopardy.
“I’ve always wanted to be in my thriller era,” Knightley smiles gleefully.
“I’m in the era of doing the kind of stuff I dreamed about as a teenager but never had the chance to try back then.
“Now I’m finally getting to do it all, and my inner teenager is just like, ‘Cool.’”
Knightley says she was drawn to the role because her character is so brave and strong.
“I think right now people are having to be very strong and very brave, and that’s what I find interesting about this character,” Knightley explains.
“Most people, if everyone around them said something didn’t happen, would doubt themselves and think, ‘Oh, I must be wrong.’ But Lo insists, ‘No, I saw this,’ even when everyone else tells her she’s crazy. She’s willing to be disliked, or maybe she does mind, but she has the strength to keep going and seek out the truth.
“It’s an extraordinary thing, and a rare thing, but that’s what makes her so compelling.”
Pearce, 57, says he had plenty to work with when portraying Richard Bullmer, a billionaire with questionable morals.
“I find stepping into any role exciting and interesting, because it’s usually about discovering someone very different from who I am naturally and that, in itself, is a fascinating challenge,” says the Australian actor.
“And someone like Richard, obviously, has great charm. He’s carrying secrets and trying to hold together this world of people on the boat, so there’s a lot of interesting stuff to explore.”
Pearce adds that the film questions greed and the need to attain more.
“You do question greed and the world of those who are constantly striving for more and more,” he explains.
“You ask yourself, what is that really leading to? Especially when you consider those who have less and less.
“This imbalance is something we all need to reflect on, and it shows up in many ways. Here, it’s explored through a mystery wrapped in a Netflix movie.”
Australian film and theatre director Stone says there are Scandi Noir elements to the film given its setting and subject matter.
“Sending a boat to Norway is a great way to bring a bit of Scandinavia into your film,” says Stone, 41.
“I also think there’s the dark heart of the soul. That’s what was groundbreaking when Scandi Noir started making waves 15 to 20 years ago, it focused on the evil in people.
“The English tradition, by contrast, is very posh and polite: you accidentally killed someone, and now I have to figure out who it was. Isn’t it all very pleasant? You have a cup of tea while we solve the mystery.
“The Scandinavians are different, no murder is ever simple; it comes from a dark place.
“ I love the tension between the two traditions: the English first half, which feels a bit like Agatha Christie: ‘Oh, isn’t this lovely?’and the second half, which is a deeply awful thriller exploring how men treat women and the disposability of women. It really goes there, and Keira is our guide into that underworld.”
Stone says filming on a superyacht in the English Channel presented logistical challenges, but ultimately it taught the cast and crew to surrender.
“Usually on film sets there are ways to escape,” Stone laughs.
“You can say, ‘I’m just going to my trailer for a second,’ or someone can drive to Costa Coffee for you.
“But out in the middle of the English Channel, leaving at seven in the morning and coming back at eight in the evening, you’re stuck on the boat. There’s literally nowhere to go. The only way to escape would be to jump overboard.
“It was almost my worst nightmare at first, not having control over my method of escape. But I had to surrender. It actually teaches you to surrender.”
Sussex-born Ware says having her novel made into a Netflix film is a “pinch me” moment for her.
“My entire career has been a sort of process of having these wild dreams and thinking but that would never happen, and then achieving it, which has been incredible,” says the
“It’s definitely a pinch of me moment.”
Ware, whose novel was published in 2016, says she wrote The Woman In Cabin 10 in response to women not being believed.
“I think one of the things that made me angry when I wrote the book was the number of ‘he said, she said’ cases in the news,” she explains.
“It felt like there was a real hierarchy in how evidence was reported and evaluated, both in the media and in the justice system.
“The evidence of someone young and seemingly unimportant, often a woman, always seemed to end up at the bottom of the pile, compared to someone wealthy or influential.
“That anger comes through in the book, and it’s very strongly present in the film as well. Unfortunately, I think it’s one of the reasons so many people relate to it.”
The Woman In Cabin 10 premieres on Netflix on Friday, October 10.
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